TSTT, NLCB: No Lotto security breaches

TELECOMMUNICATIONS Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) and National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) officials yesterday assured the population that there will be no breaches of security or privacy should they choose to pay their phone bills at any National Lottery Online (NLO) agent or Lotto/Play Whe vendor in TT. TSTT and NLCB have entered into an agreement so that persons can pay their phone bills and top up their pre-paid mobile accounts via these agents.

TSTT manager (credit management) Lester Weekes told Newsday that the approximately 500 NLCB personnel who will perform this service underwent intensive training over the last three weeks, with special emphasis on confidentiality and security issues.  He said a confidentiality clause has been included in the contracts of these individuals who have been warned about the penalties involved if they break this clause. Weekes further stated that these agents have been strictly instructed not to divulge any information about a phone bill to customers but let the customers initiate the conversation.

For additional security, he said each customer can choose the method whereby their transaction is conducted. Limited information is provided to these agents to process TSTT bill payments and there is no chance that information gleaned from these transactions could be used for any illegal activities. NLCB officials agreed with their TSTT counterparts that there are no loopholes in the system which could be exploited for criminal purposes. One official said paying TSTT bills either at an NLO agent or Lotto/Play Whe vendor was not much different to standing in line at a TSTT office to perform the same task. This project was launched last night and is being branded as VIA.